POL 3162 Introduction to American Politics

1. POL 3162Introduction to American Politics FEDERALISM SHANG E. HA SOGANG UNIVERSITY

2. Overview • APT, Chapter 3 • What is federalism? • How did the Founders balance national and state power in the Constitution? • How has the concept of federalism evolved? • How should we assess federalism?

3. The Conflict over Drinking Age

4. How Is This Related to the Conflict over Drinking Age?

5. Drinking Age… • In 1981, 29 states and the District of Columbia allowed either 18 year-olds or 19 year-olds to drink some kinds of alcohol. • Under intense lobbying from Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other organizations, Congress passed a law in 1984 that would withhold 5 percent of federal highway funds in 1986 and 10 percent for every year after from any state that did not raise the drinking age to 21. • By 1996, all 50 states and DC had the drinking age of 21. • How did a policy that originally differed by state become a single national policy? And why did the “winning” policy move in the direction that it did?

6. Federalism • Federalism – a system of government that divides sovereign power across at least two political units. • Sovereign power – the amount of exclusive authority and autonomy retained by each unit of government. • Balancing state and federal powers (from the above example) • Congress cannot (or has decided not to) create national drinking age • Congress can withhold federal highway funds from non-compliant states

7. Federalism • Basics of Federalism (sharing power) • State governments are not responsible for national defense or foreign policy • Federal government is not responsible for issues such as allowing smoking in bars or restaurants • Governments like the United Kingdom’s are not federal systems, but unitary governments (power is centralized within the national government.) • At the other end of the spectrum are confederal governments (the states have most of the power and can veto actions taken by the central government; Confederations are rare in today’s world.)

8. Balancing National and State Power in the ConstitutionConcepts that support Constitution’s State-centered orientation • 10th Amendment – “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” • 11th Amendment – Prevents citizens of one state from suing the government of another state. Passed in reaction to Chisholm v. Georgia (1793).

9. Balancing National and State Power in the ConstitutionConcepts that support Constitution’s State-centered orientation • Doctrine of Interposition – The idea that if the national government passes an unconstitutional law, the people of the states (through their state legislatures) can declare the law void. This idea provided the basis for southern secession and the Civil War. • States’ Rights – The idea that states are entitled to a certain amount of self-government, free of federal intervention. This became a central issue leading up to the Civil War.

10. Balancing National and State Power in the ConstitutionConcepts that support Constitution’s State-centered orientation • Full faith and credit clause– Part of Article IV of the Constitution requiring that each state’s laws be honored by other states. For example, a legal marriage in one state must be recognized across state lines. • Due to the “Defense of Marriage Act,” passed in 1996, this does not apply to homosexual marriages  But forget about it! (The 2015 SCOTUS decision on same-sex marriage)

11. Balancing National and State Power in the ConstitutionConcepts that support Constitution’s Nation-centered orientation • Necessary and proper clause – Article I, Section 8, the elastic or necessary and proper clause, gives Congress the authority to “make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution of the foregoing Powers.” • While enumerating Congress’s powers, the elastic clause also leaves the door open for Congress to “expand the scope of conflict” as Congress can point to this clause whenever it passes legislation that might not directly relate to the powers enumerated to the Congress.

12. Balancing National and State Power in the ConstitutionConcepts that support Constitution’s Nation-centered orientation • Supremacy clause – The part of Article VI of the Constitution that states that the Constitution is the “Supreme Law of the Land” and “the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.” • Enumerated powers – Those powers given specifically to Congress, such as: • Admit new states to the union • Declare war • Coin money • Create and maintain armed forces • Regulate commerce with American states and with foreign countries

13. Balancing National and State Power in the ConstitutionConcepts that support Constitution’s Nation-centered orientation • Privileges and Immunities Clause – Part of Article IV of the Constitution requiring that states must treat non-state residents within their borders as they would treat their own residents. This was to promote commerce and travel between the states. • Example: States can’t deny police protection to visitors to a state. • When isn’t this true? • Colleges can charge “out of state tuition” to those not from the college’s state. • Only citizens of a state can vote in that state’s elections.

14. The Evolution of Federalism

15. Types of Federalism

16. Dual (layer-cake) Federalism • The form of federalism that sees national and state governments as distinct entities providing separate services. • The Civil War Amendments • Abolished slavery (the 13th) • Prohibited states from denying citizens due process or equal protection of the laws (the 14th) • Gave newly freed male slaves the right to vote (the 15th)

17. States’ Rights? • States’ Rights have frequently been used as a cover for state-sanctioned discrimination and bigotry (e.g. Jim Crow) • Today many states are trying to implement laws that are more liberal than the federal government’s via states’ rights arguments. Those laws include the legalization of gay marriage, medical marijuana, and assisted suicide.

18. Cooperative (marble-cake) Federalism • The form of federalism in which national and state governments work together to provide services efficiently • The Progressive era of the early twentieth century and the subsequent New Deal of the 1930s brought with it a new era of American federalism in which the federal government became much more involved in the economy. • This resulted in federal involvement in education, agriculture, social welfare, transportation, civil rights, and even management-labor relations.

19. Picket Fence Federalism • A more refined and realistic form of cooperative federalism in which policy makers within a particular policy area work together across the levels of government • For example, someone working in a state’s education department will have more contact with people working in local school districts and the national Department of Education than with those who also work at the state level but focus on transportation policy • An illustration (next slide)

20. Picket Fence Federalism Example

21. Coercive Federalism

22. Coercive Federalism • A form of federalism in which the federal government pressures the states to change their policies by using regulations, mandates, and conditions (often involving the threat of losing funding). • Unfunded Mandates – Federal laws that require the states to do certain things but do not provide state governments with funding to implement these policies. • Federal preemptions – The impositions of national priorities on the states through national legislation that is based on the Constitution’s supremacy clause.

23. Coercive Federalism: An Example • For example, on the issue of environmental policy, Congress has passed a number of laws, such as the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, that required the states and local governments to comply with the national rules. • At the same time, Congress has passed a number of incentive programs, which have encouraged states and localities to innovate in clean energy and reduce fossil fuel use. • Between the requirements and the incentives, Congress has pushed states and localities towards greater levels of energy efficiency and decreased use.

24. Fiscal Federalism • A form of federalism in which federal funds are allocated to the lower levels of government through transfer payments or grants. • Congress uses payments to get states to cooperate with its will • e.g., withholding highway funds until states imposed 21-to-drink (see above). • This type of federalism was practically non-existent in the 19th century and took hold only after FDR’s New Deal led to a centralization of national authority and an increased federal role in the economy.

25. Fiscal Federalism (con’t) • Categorical grants – Federal aid to state or local governments that is provided for a specific purpose • e.g., mass transit program within the transportation budget or a school lunch program within the education budget. • Block grants – Federal aid provided to a state government to be spent within a certain policy area, where the state can decide how to spend within that area. • Generalrevenue sharing (GRS) – A type of grant used in the 1970s and the 1980s in which the federal government provided state governments with funds to be spent at each state’s discretion.

26. Federal and State/Local Government Spending (including grants) as a Percentage of GDP

27. Federalism: National and State Responsibilities

28. The Diffusion of Innovation Across States • “Policy Diffusion” • Political scientists, Craig Volden (Ohio State University) and Charles Shipan (University of Michigan), explain how policies diffuse across state and local governments • Statistical analysis using antismoking laws across the 675 largest US cities between 1975 and 2000

29. Policy Diffusion Mechanisms • Learning: states and cities adopt the policy that works best • Economic competition: states and cities adopt certain policies (or fail to adopt them) in response to economic forces from their neighbors • Imitation: states and cities adopt a policy in an effort to be like another state or city it would like to emulate • Coercion: diffusion occurs because the national government requires states to adopt certain policies in order to qualify for federal funds

30. If you’re interested, then read… • Charles R. Shipan and Craig Volden. 2008. “The Mechanisms of Policy Diffusion.” American Journal of Political Science. 52(4): 840-857.